Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (Re-Issue)

Darkest Hour moved away from metalcore with their third record. Essentially laying the blueprint for American-style melodic death metal, the D.C. hardcore kids don't skimp on the riffs on the album's nine tracks, cramming every inch of tape with guitars that wriggle and shudder, while vocalist John Hardy shreds his vocal cords and pretty much every song has a mosh that is awesome. The album, produced by Swedish metal linchpin Fredrik Nordström, opens with "The Sadist Nation," a straight tour de force up there with anything off At the Gates' Slaughter Of The Soul.